


Dark night of the soul

by PsycheJung



Category: DCU, Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Carl Jung - Freeform, Church of blood - Freeform, Darkness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Repressed, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Psychology, Spiritual, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-07-21 00:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16148543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsycheJung/pseuds/PsycheJung
Summary: Raven has the task of taking care of three young superheroes: Melvin, Timmy and Teether, so that the Brotherhood of Evil cannot capture them. However, they are soon on the run, as Monsieur Mallah is chasing them. She needed reinforcements. But... What would have happened if Robin had assigned Kid Flash the task of going to help Raven while she was protecting of the three kids at the time?Meanwhile, Raven begins to have strange dreams that appear to be an encrypted enigma, and that seem to drag her towards a simple but inconceivable truth: something dark is lurking within her and threatens to destroy her from within. Meanwhile, an ancient and sinister religious cult has returned with an eagerness to take power. The day is over, the night approaches, giving way to shadows and a journey into the darkness of the soul.Everything we repress weakens us until we discover that it was also a part of ourselves. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.





	1. Babysitter

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everybody! I'm new to fanfic writing, so this is my first writing and I finally decided to publish it. As you will see below, events are basically located in the fifth season of the series, specifically from chapter 7 onwards, during the events of the battle against the Brotherhood of Evil. At first it may seem that nothing is different from the original chapter, but the changes will appear as the story progresses. Any comment or constructive criticism is more than welcome.  
> .  
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> English isn’t my first language, so please excuse any mistakes. 
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> I hope you enjoy it!
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> Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or any of their characters, the rights themselves belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros. This is only an amateur, non-profit publication.

      **" _Between living and dreaming, there's a third thing._ **

**_Guess it."_**

Antonio Machado, Proverbs and Songs.

 

* * *

_Everything was submerged in a crushing darkness, in perpetual silence. Fear was invading her in every space of her mind. The only thing around her was complete darkness. Standing in that thick black was extremely disconcerting to her. There was nothing around. She felt really stunned. She closed her eyes and opened them again in the hope of finding another outlook, but nothing happened. All she had left to do was walk. In spite of not seeing anything or anyone around, as if it were blindness, she felt completely watched. Stalked. She felt exposed and helpless, a strange instinctive sensation, as if a beast was going to jump immediately to attack. With her heart in a fist she scanned the darkness in search of the slightest hint of movement. In the midst of blackness, she perceived an oscillation. There was something in there with her. Drowning a deaf scream that only increased her torment, she felt as if sharp eyes had rested on her, succeeding in oppressing her chest. But there was only silence. An uncomfortable silence. Though now the perception of her own breathing gave way to an unbearable and disturbing sound. All she had left to do was keep walking._

_She hated the feeling of being blind in this darkness. She hated this strange place. She was... afraid to be alone in the dark._

 

_Alone._

 

_She wanted to get out right now. But how could she do it? Was there any way? There seemed to be no way out, no sign of opening, no sign of light to indicate a way forward. She wasn't even sure if she was walking in any direction, her sense of spatial location in this place was null._

_She went on marching, breathing heavily from fatigue. She looked up, and everything remained the same. The sense of imminent threat continued. But she still had to move on, she had to get out of there immediately. After a few steps further on, she found with astonishment that she was immersed in water up to her waist. The water was icy and dark, matching where it was. She directed her gaze at it and couldn't even see her reflection. Her body was already numb from the cold liquid and then she felt it. Something grazed her foot as if it were slipping down there, causing a start in her to avoid contact with whatever was in there. Then it was only engulfed in the depths of that dark sea that now seemed to have no soil._

_She just tried to find something to hold on to, anything, but there was nothing. The only thing she could scratch with her hands was more water. She tried to shake her arms and legs and swim to the surface, but the icy water seemed to push her deeper into that shady bottom, as if something was absorbing her. The cold and the agitation were causing him to run out of oxygen. The feeling of choking and suffocation was invading her._

_She wanted air, and by a reflex act, opened her mouth in search of that longed-for breath, and ended up drinking a large amount of water in the process. She inhaled water, babbled, coughed and inhaled more water. It was inevitable to swallow water in those mouthfuls desperate for some air. The sensation of the liquid invading her airway was unbearable. Her hands clung to her neck. It burned a lot and she felt like her lungs were about to explode. A somatic burning sensation in her chest was felt as the water descended through her entire respiratory system. Then, when her body felt faint, there came at last a kind of fall into a sense of calm and tranquillity as she continued to sink into nothingness itself. Before she lost consciousness, she noticed a strange glow emerging from her hands._

In a frantic manner, agitated by the bad dream, Raven woke up with unease. The sensations had felt too real, almost like a lucid dream. As an act of consolation, she took a large breath of oxygen in order to take away a little of the feeling of suffocation that tormented her until a moment ago. She closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled the air from her lungs. _"Relax, it was just a nightmare_." She tried to calm her troubled emotions a little more before she opened her eyes. Her vision was now directed at the landscape that was glimpsed through the window of the train where she was at this moment. She tried to focus her head on the goal of this journey to try to clear her thoughts. The sorceress had been assigned on a mission to escort a team of heroes to a safe place, a monastery specifically, to keep them away from the Brotherhood of Evil, one of the most prominent criminal groups in the world now behind the Titans and any subject with powers that might threaten their preservation.

Gone are the urban landscapes of the city of Jump City, and now you could only see the vast green space of the countryside. As the railroad advanced, she could notice the wide meadows and spaces dedicated to agricultural cultivation.

She had been travelling for some time and honestly felt a little bored, and she didn't even have a book at hand to distract herself. The swaying of the train soon became too monotonous and the girl felt the need to stretch her body a little and move her legs before falling asleep again. She got up and walked into the hallway towards another waggon.

Raven walked until she found a metal door. She went into the small bathroom and opened the cold water faucet to wet her face a little. She relaxed her body slightly and moved her neck to the sides, it was so tense that it even hurt, an obvious product of sleeping for some time sitting in the same position. She looked at her reflection in the mirror above the washbasin with a grimace as she delineated with her fingertips some of her particular characteristics. Her pale skin, purple hair, amethyst eyes. Features that showed him she wasn't a normal person. That… she was rare. Features that reminded him of her inheritance, and which sometimes told him that it was nothing more than a simple portal for her demonic father to enter the Earth. Although Trigon had already been defeated, his latent presence was still present. She continued to look at the reflection that the mirror returned to her until the voice of Malchior, that dragon demon who tricked her and used her to escape from the prison in the book, rumbled in her head.

_"Beautiful maiden"... "A lock of a beautiful girl's hair."_

_"It was just a hoax. A lie," thought the sorceress._

Malchior had attacked her at her most vulnerable point, her feeling of loneliness. The wound had not yet disappeared, it persisted like a sore in living flesh. Her hands clutched tightly in the sink as her knuckles turned white from the pressure. She noticed how her emotions were disturbed by the cruel memory, causing a black glow to fall from her body, as if it were an electric current, causing the mirror to fragment into pieces, now seeing her image split and divided. Fractured.

She came out of the bathroom and went back to her seat. She was hoping to get to the location soon, she had already been traveling for several hours. Her eyes turned again to the window, seeing the fresh and beautiful landscape. About ten more minutes passed when the train finally sounded its whistle announcing the arrival, as it began to gradually slow down. When it finally opened its doors, Raven finally came out of it breathing some fresh air. Now she was at Myrberg Station, where they were supposed to be waiting for her. But it was totally empty. She looked at the big clock at the station and saw that it was almost ten o'clock in the morning.

In the distance she could see a vast open plain surrounded by mountain ranges that had their peaks covered by ancient forests of tall trees. White clouds advanced almost touching the peaks of the high mountains that delimited the horizon; the leaves of the surrounding trees moved gently with the breeze; the air breathed was warm. Everything was beautiful, it looked almost like a painting, that combination of shades was perfect for that morning. The birds sang harmoniously and when they reached the summit, the sun appeared over those mountains that looked like giants protecting it. Yeah, everything was really nice, but that didn't stop Raven's mood from starting to sour. They must have been waiting for her by now, and here she was, standing without any trace of the subjects she had to guard towards the location assigned to her to leave them. Well, it was time to ask for explanations, so she took her communicator.

“Raven calling Robin, over," she announced as she sent a signal to the transmitter.

But the video call didn't show the face she wanted to see, quite the opposite. And honestly, she wasn't in the mood to talk to the green boy and his jokes.

“Robin's communicator, may I help you?” asked the changing as he looked at Raven's face.

“Beast Boy, pass me Robin,” ordered the sorceress frowning.

“He's fighting crime at the moment perhaps I can be of assistence.”

“I'm at the station and there's no one, are you sure this is the place?” she asked, looking around, hoping to see if they had already arrived. Not a thing. Wait... was that a dry bush across the road? Well, she wasn't surprised, the place was practically deserted.

“Yes, it's the meeting point," said Beast Boy.

“So what if they don't show up? Do you expect me to stay here in the middle of nowhere forever?" Raven complained, irritated by the delay and the smile on the boy's face that only seemed to irritate her more than she was at the moment.

“Wait for them," he said in a tone of voice that seemed to minimize the importance of the matter. “Robin trusts you to meet them and take them to a place where the Brotherhood of Evil cannot find them.”

Raven cut off communication when she managed to scan a bus approaching from the roadway. It braked for a moment, and then went on its way. After the engine exhaust fumes dissipated, she stared in front of her eyes waiting to see who she had to guard but nothing was shown there, yet she felt theirs presences. Slowly she lowered her eyes as if fearing what was about to happen. She only begged internally. By Azar, don't let it be what she was thinking.

.

.

_"No, please," begged Raven._

.

“Are you Raven?” asked a voice that was too shrill for her ears, and only gave him a headache.

.

And she finally saw them.

.

And she wanted to run and escape as far as possible.

.

Or that the earth would swallow her right now.

.

_Oh, no._

_._

_Oh, no._

_And it wasn't just one, it was three..._

_Three kids!_

_Kids!_

_._

_._

_._

She had a sudden desire to take the first train back, or maybe a portal? And to arrive and kill Robin; a duel to the death with knives sounded tempting to her; or perhaps some method of torture in the best style of the Middle Ages: the wheel didn't seem like such a bad choice to her, or the pulley... or the guillotine directly; or why not just let her demonic side take charge of her leader?

 

_"Stupid Robin."_

 

“You've gotta be kidding me," she muttered, watching as her eyes met those three pairs of beautiful... little devils. Well, it was time to finally communicate with her leader.

“Robin,” called him again with a slightly acid tone even for her.

Her head hurt even more when she heard the "touching" sound coming from the suction of the pacifier of the smallest. But the day didn't seem to be in her favor.

“I have Robin's transmitter, I can...”

“Pass me Robin, now!” Raven shouted as Best Boy's face was again shown on the screen.

“He's very busy right now.”

“Well, tell him I'm not a fucking babysitter!” she shouted louder if she could, perhaps so that stupid Robin could hear her complaints.

“Raven wants you to know she's not a babysitter," he told Robin, who seemed to be in an interesting fight dodging shots from a robot. More interesting than her mission, surely. “Robin says you have to be," said the green boy.

“Can't someone else do it? Starfire likes people, or Cyborg.”

“The others are on other missions, you'll have to do...”. Well, she cut off communication again before her anger came out. She tried to relax, because anyway this was not a game, it was an important mission in which the Brotherhood of Evil was involved. And the sooner she was done, the sooner she could get home.

“Are you going to help us, miss?” asked the girl in a shrill voice.

“What's your name?” she asked a little more calmly now. Just a little bit.

“Melvin," said the blonde girl.

“Melvin, are you the leader of the group?”

“I think so, they follow me everywhere," she said pointing to the other two.

"All right, Melvin, I'll take them safely to a hiding place, but that'll be all," Raven announced, sighted the train that would take them to their destination and was already approaching on the tracks. Great, now the baby had taken one of her hands, while the screaming girl took the other. The other boy with that blanket had now begun to cry. If the girl had a squeaky voice, the redheaded boy had just taken the first place by far. His crying seemed to drill deep into her ears.

“What's wrong with him?” she asked, looking at the boy whining and kicking on the floor.

“I don't know, what's the matter with you, Timmy?” Melvin asked her brother.

“Nobody takes my hand!” he cried as the volume of his crying increased.

Raven just got an amazing nervous tic in her eye.

“Melvin, take his hand,” ordered the sorceress to be able to calm the screaming child.

“I can't, I have to take Bobby's hand, he's afraid of trains," Melvin exposed as she showed the sorceress her free hand grabbing... only air.

“I understand, Bobby is afraid of trains," Raven muttered as she arched an eyebrow, now there were three children and an imaginary friend. What an interesting and entertaining trip she had ahead. “Timmy you'll have to take his hand.”

.

.

.

_"Like I said, stupid Robin."_

 


	2. Hide-and-seek

Raven was again seated aboard the railroad observing the beautiful landscape that was shown by the window and that, unlike before, began to become more leafy and mountainous as it advanced in its route.

“Only a two-hour train ride and it will all be over," she sighed as she resigned herself to the almost nanny mission ahead of her. Then she looked at the three... angels, who were sitting in front of her looking at her with apparent curiosity. “Do the three of them have powers? What can they do?” she asked directly. After all, they were "heroes", and if they were persecuted by the Brotherhood of Evil, they must have marvelous powers that would make anyone tremble.

“Timmy can scream very loud," Melvin said pointing to the kid. "Do you want to hear it?”

“Mm, no thanks," said Raven sharply, she had already heard it while crying, it was really unbearable. “What about the rest?”

“Teether can eat anything and spit it out," she said  pointing to the baby with a pacifier.

“Next.”

“Bobby can dance," Melvin added excitedly as she clapped her hands. "Do you want to see it?”

“Eh, no.”

 

 _"Sure, wonderful powers_."

 

A great threat to a criminal organization formed by evil and powerful high-ranking villains. Sure they were shaking with fear right now. Not even Madame Rouge's psycho could compete against that.

Raven snorted with annoyance when Teether spit out his pacifier and tried to remove Timmy's blanket.

“It's mine! Give it to me!”

Another masterful nervous tic arose in Raven's eyebrow when the children began, at full volume, to scream, cry and tantrum, all at the same time as if it were not enough to do it separately.

“Quiet!” she shouted already, losing patience and drawing the children's attention and pulling them out of their stupid fight for a stupid blanket. “Let's play a game, it's called don't bother Raven, rule number one: don't talk," ordered the sorceress, she closed her eyes and joined her hands as she recited her mantra in a clear attempt to keep her emotions, especially anger, under control. “Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,” she sighed, feeling the tension diminish and her mind clear a little... a little until she opened her eyes and the children had vanished from her sight. “Good idea Robin, put Raven in charge of those kids.”

_"As I was saying before, stupid Robin."_

She rose from her seat and walked out into the corridor towards the next wagon with the intention of looking for the three brats.

“Melvin, Timmy” she called to get the children's attention and for them to come out of wherever they were hiding.

She marched until she found the first one, the baby, who was... eating a piece of seat? She didn't even want to think about the surprise she'd get when she had to change his diaper.

“Get out from under there.”

She took the baby in her arms and walked to the other wagon when Timmy's crying reached her ears. The redheaded boy was lying on the ground kicking and throwing another one of his tantrums. She was able to hear people around her whispering about her caregiver's irresponsibility, which only embarrassed her and further altered her growing stress. She approached the boy and threw it with his blanket and continued walking. Well, two down and one was missing... or "two" if she considered Melvin's imaginary friend. She opened the following doors with her powers because her hands were busy holding the two boys. She finally found her in the train depot.

“Melvin, what are you doing here?” she asked, seeing the little girl sitting in a box.

“Bobby didn't fit in the compartment," she said simply as she pointed... to nothingness itself.

_"Oh, yeah, sure, Bobby."_

“Just shrink your imaginary friend and let's get back to our seats," established the sorceress, losing patience again.

“Bobby's real!” the girl shrieked in anger. “Yeah, I'm scared of her, too,” she whispered to her imaginary friend as if it were a secret in the air.

 _Did she scare her? Was she that creepy?_ Although Raven did not express it in her body language, Melvin's comment hurt her, managing to puncture her soul sores.

“Come on, you can leave Bobby here, he'll be fine," Raven muttered, trying not to damage the girl's susceptibility to her friend any more and be able to theirs seats and take a break.

“Timmy's gotta go," Melvin warned, pointing to the appointee who was squatting in a gesture of discomfort.

\- What do you mean...?

Just great. Raven counted the minutes while Timmy, the weepy, was inside the bathroom cubicle. What took him so long?

“You okay in there?”. The sound of the toilet chain warned her that the boy had finally finished doing whatever he was doing in there. “Can we go back to our seats now?”

The children nodded as they began to follow her. All right, now she could finally relax for a while during the journey as the train finished its journey.

“A monkey man! Monkey man!” the redheaded boy muttered worriedly as he ran towards Raven to hide behind her.

Or maybe not.

“Timmy, what's a monkey man?” Raven questioned until the most obvious answer came to her head.

 

…

_"Had Beast Boy come to help her with the three kids?" she thought._

...

 

No, that didn't make any sense, so the second hypothesis didn't take long to get to her brain and she didn't like it at all. Nothing at all.

The Brotherhood of Evil had finally found them.

 

“Mallah?” Magnificent, truly magnificent, the day was becoming more and more peaceful for her mental health. Now she really believed in _Murphy's law_ : if something can go wrong, it'll go wrong. Or spectacularly wrong in her case.

“Give me the kids," ordered the gorilla as he broke one of the walls and entered the train that was still moving.

“Run!” Raven ordered.

Melvin and Timmy rushed to escape the enemy, while the sorceress followed, holding Teether tightly.

“Quick! Hide!” said the blonde girl to Timmy, as they both hid under one of the seats.

“We don't have time to play hide-and-seek!” shouted the empath.

Raven used her powers to close the doors, which was an unnecessary expense because Mallah broke everything in his path with his super-strength, knocking her to the ground. She received the full impact of the fall to protect the baby in her arms.

“Come out from wherever you are,” Mallah commanded as he ripped out the tables and seats that were in the way. “I found them.”

The children's scream pulled Raven out of her fall disturbance. She directed her telekinetic powers to take control of most of the seats and tables of the wagon, which were now surrounded by dark energy, and threw them directly at the gorilla, sending him away from the two children.

Melvin and Timmy rushed to the sorceress and the four of them ran to another wagon on the train, but Mallah broke the roof and appeared again in front of them. Raven concentrated her energy, creating a telekinetic extension of her arm, which lunged at the enemy and squeezed him to the ground, and immediately buried him with the elements that were also in that wagon.

“This way, children!” Raven guided through the vehicle as she tried to think of something.

They kept running until they found the end of the train. Well, there was no more escape. Raven moved into an attacking position in front of the door waiting for it to appear, but Mallah entered the side of the vehicle, falling over her with a big push, leaving it a little stunned. Then the gorilla approached to take Melvin who was terrified on the floor.

“Bobby! Help!” called the desperate girl as she squatted in a clear gesture of fear.

At that precise moment Mallah was strongly pushed by an invisible force, which also disjoined the wagon from the rest of the train and left them standing halfway.

 

 _"Interesting_... _Did Melvin have telekinetic powers like her? It was the most logical explanation she could find in front of what her eyes showed her.”_

 

“Yes, he did it! He did it! Bobby saved us!” The three children celebrated as they jumped up and cried out really happy.

“We are stranded in the middle of nowhere while a big gorilla chases us, how did he save us?” Raven replied, taking the children out of their momentary happiness and making them cry intensely. She just rolled her eyes. She took the children and they got out of the van, watching the train leave.

“The chu-chu is gone," said Teether greeting the only method of arrival for them at their destination.

“Yeah, the chu-chu's gone. I will have to carry you myself on the mountain," exposed Raven, creating with her powers a disc of dark energy beneath them with the intention of getting out of there.

“We won't be able to fly, Teether always gets dizzy," Melvin said.

“We don't have to go far, I'm sure it'll be fine," Raven said as the big disc began to levitate. Everything was going great... until Teether threw up the piece of seat he ate on the train over her boot.

“Great," said Raven, looking at the beautiful gift on her foot with disgust. Now the baby was turning green from the motion sickness, which heralded a second and next little regurgit on her. “Wait, we'll walk," she finally announced, surrendered as she descended back to the ground.

And now the two boys were asking her to carry them, and she had to lift them because they had started the tantrums again. _"Sure, we'll walk. Rather, I will walk."_

They marched for a few hours until the sun finally set, giving way to twilight. The atmosphere had become quite cool so the sorceress hoped to find some shelter soon before the children ended up with a cold. They were also really tired, as they had not stopped yawning all the way. Raven noticed a small cottage in the distance. She concentrated using her powers to detect if there was anyone inside and for luck was uninhabited.

“It's bedtime and we haven't had dinner yet," Melvin said as she sighed for exhaustion.

“We'll spend the night here," Raven said, approaching the place.

 

_"It'll be a good hiding place... or so I hope."_

 

The sorceress used her powers to open the latch that kept the wooden door closed and entered, turning on the lights of the place. Well, the place wasn't so bad, just a little dust but everything seemed tidy. Chances are the place would have been recently abandoned or the owners would have been out. There was a bed, two sofas, and even a small kitchen. The only problem was that the place was a little cold due to the outside temperature. She needed to heat the place up a bit, so she took some logs that were in a corner and put them in the chimney while she lit it and stoked the fire in the process. The little place warmed up and became a little more cozy. Raven smiled when she saw the kids warming up in front of the fire. Now she had to get something to eat. She opened the cupboards and all she found were canned foods like soup, beans, peas, carrots, fermented vegetables and... more beans. She took a spoon and approached Teether for dinner, but Teether refused each of the things she offered as he whimpered.

“No! No! No! No!" protested the baby as he bawled and hit the table with his two little fists. The little devil had eaten a piece of a dirty train seat but didn't want to eat a simple canned meal. Quite a tenderness for her eyes.

“I don't know what they want!” Raven grumbled as she held one hand to her head to soothe her headache a little. Great, now the baby was eating some stranger's boot. He did have a rare choice for meals, though not as much as Beast Boy. Raven observed that now the weeping child was approaching her with clear intentions... to start crying again.

“Look! Look at my blanket! Look at my blanket...!” Timmy sobbed as he held his blue blanket tightly.

“Yes, I've seen your blanket, it's," she thought a word that might cheer up the kid, "pretty," said Raven simply. Now Timmy and Teether were crying in front of her. She really admired the strength of those lungs.

“Oh, here we go again," lamented the sorceress as she covered her ears to cover as much noise as possible. This was too much for her. She needed to rest, meditate urgently or... kill Robin. Any one of these three options was within her primary needs now. She was thinking again about the methods of punishment for her leader when the girl's screaming voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Raven, you forgot to feed Bobby," Melvin said as she shook her cape to get her attention. Or else, and now she too would have to feed the imaginary thing.

“Bobby doesn't need to eat, he's not real," said Raven, who wasn't in the mood for more nonsense.

“Yes, it is!” bellowed the angry girl.

“It's okay," she snorted in frustration, "let Bobby to eat my dinner.”

“Bobby's not here, he has to stay outside because he's too big.”

"Sure, Bobby's outside," Raven rolled her eyes. She took her plate of food and went out onto the porch of the cottage, as she sat on the steps. A sigh came out of her lips. “Eat Bobby,” Raven mumbled as she put the plate aside and thought of some plan of action.

“I need reinforcements," said the resigned sorceress as she took her communicator and sent a signal. “Raven calling anyone.”

“Raven!”

_"Was this some kind of divine punishment for almost bringing about the end of the world?"_

“Anyone but Beast Boy!” she shouted as the vein in her forehead throbbed in rage and threatened to explode.

“Did you finish your mission?”, he asked with a big smile, ignoring the obvious anger on the empathic woman's face.

“We made a little detour, I'll deliver them tomorrow," she explained, "if I survive.”

“It's easy to take care of them. All you have to do is grimace them," said the green boy, "and they like jokes. This one never fails, why did the cookie go to the doctor?” he asked excitedly the changing one because of the spectacular and funny joke he had heard the other day on the radio.

 

.

.

_Silence..._

 

_Cri cri cri_

 

_Wait... was that a cricket?_

_._

.

 

“Emm... you're supposed to ask why” added Beast Boy disconcerted by the lack of response.

“Why?” asked Raven dryly and really bored by the boy's stupidity.

“He went because he was feeling crummy! Get it? Crum!” he laughed out loud as he spit out the transmitter screen, as if it had been the most sublime joke ever told in the whole world. She only closed the device before making the decision to open a portal directly to that place and dismember the Green Bean.

 

_"Stupid Robin and Stupid Beast Boy."_

 

“I guess I'm on my own," she finally resigned herself. She rose from her place on the stairs and entered the hut again. The two boys were still crying and screaming inside as if there was nothing more interesting to do. Didn't they ever get tired? Well, she'd try the "erudite" teachings of Beast Boy.  First she made a strange and a little terrifying grimace at Teether making him cry louder if possible. Then she approached Timmy and told him the "fabulous" cookie and crumbs joke she heard a while ago, only increasing his screams and tantrums.

“Even kids don't like Beast Boy jokes," snarled Raven as she massaged her temples to soothe her already greatly increased migraine.

“You've never cared for kids before, have you?” Melvin interrogated with curiosity from the comfort of the bed.

“Is it obvious?” she asked sourly.

“The baby has gas," explained the girl.

“And what happens to Timmy the Weeping now?”

“His blanket broke.”

Well, she'd follow Melvin's advice better. Raven first took the baby in her arms, resting his little head on her shoulder and patted him gently on the back... getting a big burp to fill her whole face with saliva and pieces of the newly digested boot. Great. One down, now it was the whiner's turn. She picked up his blanket that was torn in half and put it back together with a stapler that was on the table. Then she laid them on the bed, seeing that now they looked at her with those lovely eyes as if waiting for her to do something else.

“So what now?” Raven asked, frowning.

“Well, you could tell us a bedtime story. We like them a lot!” Melvin said with a smile as she embraced her brothers.

“I don't know any story," the sorceress objected to the girl's request.

“I want a story! I want a story! A story! A story!” Timmy voiced with that powerful, terrifyingly strident and scandalous voice of his.

“It's okay, it's okay. Let me see...”, Raven reflected on what story might be to the liking of infants. Until she came up with something... well, that was perfect. “On my last birthday my friends gave me a big cake and lots of balloons,” she began to tell her story by seeing the exciting faces of the kids who were clearly delighting in the story. “But I didn't enjoy it because my father Trigon, a terrifying red demon took over the world, and there was fire everywhere, and then that horrible man with a skeletal face chased me and...”. Oh, now the story wasn't being to their liking anymore, well that's what she assumed because now the kids's faces were really pale and full of dread. She had to give it a good and creative ending, if she didn't want to change a couple of dirty diapers at that moment. “My friends saved me, we ate the cake and the end,” she ended up proud of her improvised story.

All right, it had worked because now the three kids were asleep and snoring. She assumed the day had been exhausting for them, not to mention for her. Raven looked at them with a smile on her face, they were really nice... while they were resting and not screaming. She came over and reclined on the sofa, only to rest a bit as she could not let her guard down completely while Mallah's threat was still present. Well, she wouldn't fall asleep, she would just close her eyes a little to relax, just a little... until she opened them when the dawn sun that entered through the window hit directly on her closed eyelids. Yeah, she'd finally fallen asleep. _"That was a little reckless of me."_

 


	3. The Fast Boy

In the distance one could glimpse the steep slopes and the cable car crossing the high mountains. The landscape was completely white due to the thick layer of snow that now covered everything around. The covered hills were quite high and the pines around them were also dyed in frost. They could appreciate the deep valleys and ravines. With the snowy peaks of the picturesque mountains in the distance, Raven could not fail to appreciate the splendor of the entire panorama. The whole town looked like it was taken from a postcard, it was simply beautiful. She walked with Teether in her arms, while holding Timmy's hand, and Melvin marched hand in hand with her imaginary thing. They made their way on foot to the station to get into the cable car cabin and reach their destination, the Myrberg Monastery where the monks were waiting for them.

“This will take us to the other side," said Raven in front of one of the red cabins of the cable car. She used her powers to open the door and enter it.

“Bobby says it doesn't seem safe," Melvin replied.

“Of course it's safe. Come in," Raven ordered as she sat the children in the cockpit seats.

Immediately after the girl entered, the cabin moved all the way to one side, as if something of great weight had entered. Well, Raven thought it was obvious that the girl couldn't fully control her powers and needed training.

“Melvin!” Raven exclaimed angrily, knowing beforehand that she would blame her imaginary thing.

“It wasn't me, it was Bobby," said the blonde girl as she pointed at the air.

_"Well, there he was... Bobby... Sure. Stupid Bobby."_

Raven only shook her head in frustration and used her powers to turn the lever and move the cable car. It began to climb the cables up the steep mountains. The sorceress sighed eliminating all tension, the more the cabin advanced, the closer she was to her objective and to finish this mission. She was getting closer and closer, at least today if it would be her lucky day. She didn't think anything bad was going to happen to her now.

“The monkey man! The monkey man!” Timmy applauded excitedly as if it were a show.

A subtle nervous tic appeared in her eye. That's great. Simply magnificent. A day of complete luck, which she would surely keep jealously guarded forever among her best and most wonderful memories, competing hand in hand with her last birthday... or the day when her demonic side almost cooks Doctor Light alive.

Mallah, standing on one of the cabins that came from the front, was approaching them. Raven thought that if the fight on the train had seemed really complicated to her, to be attacked by a ruthless gorilla with excessive force in the middle of a cable car thousands of feet above the ground didn't really seem tempting. And less with three kids to take care of. The enemy finally jumped over his cabin and used his strength to make a hole in the ceiling, leaving his "nice" and hairy mandrill face visible.

“He's gonna get us!” Timmy sobbed holding his blanket tightly.

“He won't," said Raven, feeling the emanation of energy all over her body. The situation was really threatening and she had to keep the kids alive. Her empathic sensibility could perceive the terror coming from them making her angry. She could feel the flow of her emotions through her mind and her eyes turned a glowing white color. She was really ready to fight and protect them.

“Stay here!” she ordered as she flew out through the orifice that Mallah opened a moment ago. There wasn't even much physical space to fight.

The gorilla immediately lunged at her to hit her but Raven dodged him as best she could, standing behind him and kicking her enemy. That thing looked like a rock. Mallah turned and struck a direct blow that almost knocked her out of the cockpit. _"Well, that was close_." She kept dodging as many blows as he could until one hit directly against the cable car's cable holder, wobbling it. If the fight went on any longer, they'd end up falling to a direct death. She created a black shield with her magic to avoid a punch. Raven felt she was already wearing herself out. She needed to stop this and quickly eliminate her enemy. She focused her telekinetic power on the roof of the cabin. Maybe that way she could push him away from there.

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!” Raven swore, breaking the roof and pushing Mallah out of the cockpit, but the very astute clung to one of the wires as he moved in their direction again.

Wait... what was the baby doing on one of the wires and how did he get there?... and was he biting it? Well, nothing strange for what she saw him eat before.

“I told you to stay inside," said Raven taking Teether in her arms and entering the cabin again.

“The monkey man!” Timmy shouted for the third time on the entire journey.

Mallah approached by sliding over one of the cables. When he reached the middle of the road, the rope began to give way because of the gorilla's weight and the fact that the baby had bitten it and torn with him teeth. And the rope broke. And Raven saw with a victorious smile as Mallah fell... which didn't last her long because, without the supporting cable, the cabin where they were also fell down the snowy slope. She held tightly to the screaming children as the compartment slid down the mountain. The trip didn't last much longer because they finally crashed into one of the pines of the lush forest leaving the cabin destroyed. Well, at least they were still alive.

“Is everybody all right?” the empath asked. Oh... she felt a particular sound near her head, the little "walk" made the baby dizzy again... now he ended up vomiting. At least the luck if it help her now because the filthy bile liquid couldn't touch her.

“Again! Again!” applauded really ecstatic Melvin and Timmy. Well, at least some had enjoyed the tour.

“There won't be another time!” Raven said threateningly, forcing them to continue their journey.

The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. They followed the path on foot a while longer until the darkness of the night made an act of presence. The moon shone brightly in the firmament. Her feet already hurt from walking so much. Raven was really tired, it had been a really exhausting journey both physically and mentally. She felt that her strength was already waning and she didn't know how much longer she would be able to resist. She could finally glimpse the enormous structure carefully constructed of pale bricks that stood in front of her eyes, the monastery where she had to leave the kids.

“I must leave them here," Raven told the children as she began to walk towards the abbey. “Finally, come.”

They began to walk to the entrance of the convent, but before knocking on the door Melvin returned with the advice offered by her imaginary thing making Raven lose her patience.

“Bobby says he doesn't think it's safe," Melvin said.

“Yes, it is," said the sorceress as she left the children at the entrance.

“But Bobby says...”

“For the last time, Bobby doesn't exist!” exclaimed Raven shouting to the girl.

“If he exists and you just scared him!” Melvin shrieked really angry as she ran towards the forest. “Bobby! Wait!”

Raven put her hand on her forehead and snorted in frustration, that girl was exasperating. She used her powers to teleport herself and appear in front of Melvin and prevent her from entering deep into the forest.

“There is no Bobby, it's you Melvin, your powers, you move things with your mind," explained Raven as she crouched and grabbed her shoulders. The girl needed to come to her senses at some point. “You are no longer a baby, you must take charge of your powers and stop always blaming your imaginary friend,” she finally said.

“Bobby's real!” Melvin complained as her blue eyes filled with tears that only made Raven feel bad. “You can't see him because you're bad!”

Again that comment, which penetrated into the depths of her being, bombarding her mind with bad memories. _"Relax, she doesn't really mean that,"_ she thought. She lifted the girl and headed for the entrance to the monastery. Then she took a rope that was hanging from the side of the door and threw it several times to ring the bell and announce their arrival. It did not take long for three elderly monks dressed in brown robes to receive them. Some vestiges of her life in Azarath and her training with the local monks quickly passed through the head of the sorceress. Memories of being locked up in a tower with no one but her mother, Azar and the monks with whom to interact. She knew she was a special case. Did these kids also have an exhaustive destiny like hers? Locked up in that monastery? But... what is done is done... and what has been done cannot be undone, so the sorceress let her memories return to the dark corners of her mind to refocus once again on her current situation. The mission was to be carried out as agreed.

“Welcome, we've been waiting for your arrival,” mustified one of the monks with a serene and calm voice.

“They're all yours," said Raven as she left Melvin on the floor.

“We'll take good care of them, don't worry.”

“Great, now come in," the sorceress encouraged the kids by giving them a little push to encourage them to enter the monastery.

When they finally did and the doors closed, Raven felt strangely... alone.

_Alone._

She had become a little accustomed to the presence of the three kids. However, she wrinkled her forehead in confusion, could hear nothing behind those doors that indicated the kids were inside. They were always too loud and rowdy.

“Too quiet!”

She opened the wide gate with her powers. As she entered levitating through the abbey, she noticed in her passage how all the monks were unconscious on the floor. She flew into the backyard until she could see, at the back of the structure, Mallah in an armored truck with the three kids imprisoned inside some contraption.

“Say goodbye to your kids, witch," Mallah mocked as he closed the top of the truck with a hatch and spun quickly to escape the place.

“Nobody messes with my kids!” Raven shouted as she began to fly in the direction of the vehicle driven by the gorilla, also trying to avoid the shots coming from a machine gun in the back of the vehicle.

The sorceress was really frustrated, she had been able to stop two Mallah attacks before, but now she knew she was not going to be able to do it alone. The tension that she accumulated during the whole previous day, today's as well and added to the null meditation that helped to accommodate her emotions, was wreaking havoc in her fight against the gorilla. She had no more strength to go on, she felt her powers were really weakened. She would have to call once more for her communicator and hope that the idiot Beast Boy understood the gravity of the situation and that at this moment she needed some support. Or that stupid Robin would deign to answer her call for once.

“Raven to Robin, please," she begged as she sent a signal through the transmitter.

“Raven, are you done with your mission?” finally asked the voice she wanted to hear, Robin's voice.

"Robin, finally. Listen carefully and do as I say, okay?" Raven pointed and continued when Robin nodded. "I need you to send some support right now, I don't think I can hold out for much longer. Mallah is causing me too many difficulties. I don't think I can take much more, I'm on the edge. Without meditation, my powers..."

“Raven, I understand perfectly. Well, I've got someone who can get there in no time, your help will be there shortly," said the Boy Wonder.

“I sincerely appreciate that help," the empath whispered, swallowing some of her pride. "I have a big problem here, and please don't send Beast Boy, I had enough dealing with animals and kids today.”

“Don't worry, I'm not talking about Beast Boy. I must cut off communication and ask for your support.”

“Great, hurry," she said, turning off the transmitter as she headed for the truck. Just because she was about to get help didn't mean she was going to be left behind without a battle. She needed to follow Mallah and do what she could to stop him.

 

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, the blue sky, free of clouds, was so intense that it made his pupils burn and the evening wind, which wrapped around his whole body, was warm and soft. From a white sand you could see how the sea was calm, the waves moved like arms and formed a mother-of-pearl foam.

A young redhead was lying on a beach with his arms crossed behind his head, relaxing after a long journey. He loved the adrenaline rush of running at high speeds, feeling the fresh wind hitting his face. But from time to time it was good for him to take a break to stretch his muscles and relax his legs a little. He had stopped at that place after having passed through it several times. It was a beautiful virgin beach, surrounded by dense forest and mountain ranges, which hid it from any visitor or the perverse destructive hand of man. No noise pollution, no horns from piles of vehicles or the hustle and bustle of crowds of people. Without the typical toxic fog composed of gases produced by cars and multiple factories. The beach itself was embellished with clear, calm waters. A hidden refuge, free of civilization and pollution, for which the air was totally pure and renovating. He had discovered the place in one of his many rounds around the world and had been enchanted by the beauty of the landscape. It was like walking through an empty, unexplored land. Forests, sea, beach, mountains; simple pleasures of nature that people easily forget to enjoy. He felt that this place, metaphorically speaking, was recharging his batteries and energies, completely renewing himself and dispensing any kind of stress. Nature contributed a good environment that somewhat appeased his hyperactive mind and body.

_A place only he knew._

He lifted his glasses, which protected his eyes as he ran at his typical super speed, while accommodating his reddish hair. He took some time to get up and stretch his numb quadriceps. Then he leaned over to soak his face a little with the beautiful saline liquid that was within his reach and took a large puff of clean, iodized air which filled his lungs completely, feeling how his whole being was appeased in that simple act.

“Such tranquility...”

He loved to run in different countries and cities. He had been touring different places and only stopped when he felt that he could no longer continue or that he needed some fuel, such as a large meal and several menus containing large amounts of caloric intake to keep active and in shape his metabolism and muscles that were in continuous movement. Basically eat like a pig. But he also had to get going when he received an alert to kick some villain's ass. At this time he still had the energy to continue running, but it didn't hurt to take an occasional light breath.

Being completely alone, he took the liberty of removing his mask and dropped back into the sand, allowing the sun to permeate his entire body. A sigh of relaxation came from his lips.

Just when he thought he was completely relaxed and about to doze off for a few minutes, his communicator alarm rang. He quickly put on his mask again and grudgingly took his communicator, seeing the image of a young man with pointed black hair and a mask that hid his eyes, was Robin. The leader of the Titans and old friend, had offered him a position in his team some time ago when it was formed, but he had rejected his proposal on the grounds that he liked to work alone. The Boy Wonder had not been angry, at some point he understood because he also worked on ostracism for quite some time. However, to his surprise, a few days ago Robin had contacted him again and had given him an artifact to keep in touch with in order to be aware of an approaching threat. He didn't take the time to explain, claiming that he was in a hurry for another arduous mission, but that he would call him to inform him when the time was right. Well, he assumed that would be now.

“Wally,” Robin said in a monochord tone.

“Hey Dick, what's with your call, buddy? Any problems? Any date with a lovely hot girl and you need my advice?” He joked as he wiggled his eyebrows. Yeah, bothering Robin could be fun.

“Where are you?” asked his interlocutor, ignoring his friend's comment.

“I think unfortunately I can't tell you. This is my secret paradise," he smiled and Robin snorted.

“Secret place? Look, I'm not interested, and listen well that this is important, how long do you think it will take you to arrive at a monastery located in the village of Myrberg? I'll run the exact location data through the transmitter's GPS right now.”

“Mmm… Forgotten who are you talking to buddy? Just a few minutes I think, even less. Why do you ask?” He said with a smug smile on his face at the same time as he saw the location of the place.

“It's about the threat I notified you of in our last conversation. Listen, one of my teammates is having difficulty in her mission protecting three children while keeping at bay the personal assistant of The Brain, the leader of a criminal organization known as the Brotherhood of Evil. I don't have time to explain much more, but she needs help. Your help. Right now.”

“And... are we talking about an attractive young woman?” Wally asked now with growing curiosity as he sat watching his communicator.

“I sincerely believe that this information is irrelevant for the mission," said the Boy Wonder, frowning at the sprinter's lack of seriousness on matters that seemed urgent.

“Well, in short, we have a damsel in distress who needs the help of the great Kid Flash.”

“Yes... I think so, although I'm not sure Raven is very pleased and happy that you call her damsel in distress," Robin said, "if you value your life.”

"Raven uh... interesting name... And what's she like...?"

“Wally!”

“Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Well, I'll be there in a blink of an eye," he said, rolling his eyes as he cut off communication with his friend.

“Always so bitter," he sighed. “Well Wally, it's time to run," he said as he put on his red glasses and the only thing that was glimpsed in the place when he started to run was a curtain of sand and dust.

 

* * *

Raven continued her attack on Mallah's armoured truck, levitating rocks from the ground with her magic to block and brake the vehicle and rescue the kids once and for all. Her time and patience were running out, and her magical power was basically at its limits. She needed to rest and meditate urgently but she knew there was no time for that. But there was something else she didn't understand... _"What the hell is wrong with my powers?_ " It was as if her entire being was exhausted, as if something was draining her from within. Was all this due to the burden of the mission? Her hands burned, as if lava ran from her fingertips, as she continued to conjure her powers. She's never happened to her before. Even maintaining her levitation was proving to be an arduous and exhausting task.

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!” she conjured to eliminate the top of the truck and thus have a better view of the gorilla. Another twinge in her hands that ran all over her body made her moan in pain.

“Enjoy this, harpy," Mallah muttered. He then activated a rocket-launching weapon that sent a large number of projectiles into Raven, which dodged everything with great skill and grace.

Mallah spun the car quickly while it was now in front of Raven. 

“Don't hurt Raven!” Melvin shrieked.

“No! No! No!” Teether screamed.

“Let her go! Let her go!” Timmy shouted.

“See you later, little bird," Mallah laughed as he kept a sinister smile on his face.

Raven heard the screams of the kids and used the last remaining forces to try to contain the armored car with her telekinesis, praying to Azar or some existing divinity to help her, but her exhaustion had its consequences and the vehicle rammed head-on against her, hitting her hard and pushing her directly into a hard impact.

 _"I failed"_ thought Raven in the deepest part of her mind, then she felt faint, her deficiency of physical and especially psychic energies, added to the accumulated stress, would not allow her to go on with the battle. _"Help"_ was the last thought that went through her head before she fainted. Then everything went black for her.

A red and yellow blur flew out of the foliage, leaving behind a trail of dirt and small pieces of grass, appearing just in time to catch and prevent the girl's fall; but the impact was so hard that the two ended up staggering and spinning through the grass. The sprinter surrounded her with his arms in order to prevent her from suffering the least possible damage, and he received the greatest impact.

“Ow! Shit! That was a hard fall," complained Wally, his eyes tightly closed, rubbing his head. _"This is really going to hurt in the next few days," he thought as he felt the pain running all over his body_. Then he turned his eyes to the girl in his arms.

The intensity of Raven's fall caused her hood to fall backwards leaving her face completely uncovered. Kid Flash couldn't help but capture her strange beauty, being enthralled by it. _"Yes, she was a pretty girl, Dick," Wally celebrated_. Her face, with its fine, delicate features, pale, alabaster-like skin, was framed by a beautiful short indigo hair that shone brightly in harmony with the moon. To his eyes she looked like a porcelain doll, an extravagant beauty he had never seen before. She also showed a curvilinear and slender figure beneath that black cape and leotard she was wearing, leaving beautiful legs exposed. As the two were so close, a delicious and captivating aroma of lavender, jasmine and what appeared to be incense or myrrh reached his nostrils. For the first time, the sprinter had been hypnotized. But he must not forget that they were in danger, he must concentrate on the enemy in front of him. He rose and looked at her for the last time. He had to protect her, after all it was the mission Robin had arranged for him. He moved into a battle position, protective of Raven, as he looked at the gorilla in what appeared to be an armored tank. Well, he had to analyze the situation well, the three kids were confined in rare devices. He did not have much information about the Brotherhood of Evil but, as little as he knew, he understood that they were not a force to be underestimated, so he had to be careful.

“Wow, and I wanted to crush the little dark bird," lamented Mallah with a false sadness.

“I think the only thing crushed here will be your mandrill hairy ass," said Kid Flash with a smile, running at high speed and delivering a direct blow to the gorilla's jaw, throwing him out of the vehicle.

“This monkey has a very hard head," the sprinter complained as he waved his hand violently, which had been stiffened by the hard blow he dealt to his enemy. Great, now added to the headache, his hand was going to end in swelling.

The blow left Mallah stunned for a few seconds. He got up rubbing his sore jaw. A growl of frustration broke his throat. Things weren't going as he planned. The task he had was simple: he aimed to capture three useless children who were escorted by the unsavory witch of the Titans, whom he was able to handle quite well despite having a disadvantage against her dark powers. But what wasn't expected was for Kid Flash to show up in the middle of the fight. He wasn't dumb, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against him and his super speed.

“Are you too slow, or are you a little heavy? You should diet, you're too chubby.”

Mallah rose furiously, running towards the speedy brat. He would wipe that filthy, petulant smile from the sprinter's face. When he was only a few steps away from hitting the boy, again a great invisible force threw him away, just like that time on the train.

“Wow, I didn't expect that...” the sprinter commented, scratching his cheek in confusion. He was waiting for the gorilla to get close enough to keep dodging and irritating him, it wasn't bad to have a little fun from time to time, but something pushed him away from him. Had the pretty girl woken up and sent him flying with her powers? He rejected this theory when he turned around and saw her in the same position she was in at the beginning, so she hadn't moved an inch. Then out of nowhere appeared in front of Mallah... a giant teddy bear? Well, that was weird even for him.

“Yeah! Bobby saved us!” shouted the girl who was in the truck

“Yes, Bobby! Bobby!”

Bobby? That thing that looked like it came out of some horror movie had a name and was it real? Well, what did it matter? He was really beating up Mallah anyway, which was an advantage for them. Kid Flash watched as the big plush bear kept the ape cornered, so he ran at high speed to save the three kids captured in the vehicle.

“All right, kiddies, stay still.” Then he broke the machines that had them imprisoned.

“Thank you so much for saving us, sir," said the blonde girl cheerfully. "And... who are you?”

“Don't you know me? I am the great Kid Flash at your service” he boasted with a smug smile, opening his legs and putting his hands on his hip in a typical superhero pose, causing a chuckle in the children.

“I'm Melvin, the bear over there is my friend Bobby, they're Timmy," she said pointing to the boy who had a blue blanket, "and this here is Teether” now pointing to the baby.

“Nice to meet you, brats.”

Mallah dodged the last blow of the giant bear. He had decided there was nothing left to do there. His plans had been thwarted and he had to return to his secret lair to report the mission to his leader, especially the presence of the fast boy who was apparently working alongside the Titans. He knew The Brain wouldn't be happy about this. He pressed a button on the suit he was wearing while some sort of helicopter propellers came out of it, finally escaping by flying.

“It's the last time I work with kids," he sighed at escape before things got worse for him.

Kid Flash watched Mallah flee, debating internally whether to pursue him or not. The children's squeaky voice got him out of his internal quarrel.

“Raven, Raven, wake up... please," sobbed Melvin as she moved the young woman's body slightly.

“Will she be all right?” Timmy whimpered as he covered her with his blue blanket to give her some warmth to comfort her.

Kid Flash rushed to where the woman who had captivated his attention minutes earlier was, surprising the children with his speed. He squatted to her side, moving his eyes and head very quickly around her figure to see if he could locate any serious injuries. He was actually quite worried, she didn't seem to be hurt beyond a few scrapes on her body, but if it gave the impression that she was really exhausted and without strength. Didn't he protect her fall well and therefore she ended up hitting her head hard? Is that why she didn't wake up?

“I think she's just passed out or knocked out," he said, trying to reassure them and himself.

She was sweating a little. He placed his hand on her forehead to measure her temperature but had no fever, her body heat was a bit below normal but he assumed it was due to the cold at night and the fact that she was lying on damp, cool grass. Then why was she sweating if she did not seem to have a fever? He carried his index and middle fingers to the carotid artery at the front of Raven's neck, applying light pressure, with the intention of taking her pulses. She had a good pulse and that relieved him a bit, but it seemed that her palpitations were above a hundred beats per minute, which surprised him too much. In spite of seeming to be asleep and really calm, in an evident soporific state, she was suffering from a notorious cardiac acceleration that did not coincide with her present state, it did not make sense for him and so he asked himself internally.... _"Was she having a nightmare?"_

 


	4. The blue rose

 

 

> **_The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed._ **
> 
> _Carl G. Jung_
> 
>  

 

_The light went out and the darkness entered again, coming out of the tomb and rising into the air, seemed to swallow everything around it. A brutal darkness that threatens to annihilate those who suffer it. Shadows could be dangerous._

_It was night and Raven was somewhere unknown, advancing slowly and painfully in the midst of a mighty gale. A high wind shook her whole body, causing strong shaking._

_The fog covered everything. She held and protected with her hands a weak little light that threatened to go out at any moment due to the storm of the dark place in which she was. Everything seemed to depend on her keeping that light alive, she felt that her own life depended on it. She felt the adrenaline running all over her body. Her heart beat so fast that she could feel the rumbling of palpitations in her ears, her hands were sweaty and her legs were stiff._

_“Robin! Cyborg!” Raven howled shouting with all her might, feeling her throat burn from the effort, “Starfire! Beast Boy!.... Someone... please_ _,” she begged, hoping that someone would appear to help her. Why did she feel so desolate? She was totally helpless._

_Alone._

_She closed her eyes and concentrated on her mantra._

_“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,” sang with the hopeful expectation of being able to flee from there with her powers but nothing happened, she didn't feel the flow of magic inside her, it was totally extinguished._

_Suddenly she had the feeling that something was following her. Then she turned around and discovered a huge black figure advancing behind her. Despite the terror she experienced, she did not cease to be aware at all times that she had to protect the light through the night and the storm. A light infinitely smaller and more fragile than the power of darkness that was approaching ever closer, threatening to engulf everything in its path, including herself._

_"Raven, Raven, please wake up," she could hear voices far away that were trying to bring her to reality._

_Was she asleep? Was this an illusion? But she couldn't stay still now._

_She felt all her blood concentrated on her lower limbs, like a mere flight reflex her legs reacted on their own and she began a race to escape the darkness._

_“Don't let the light go out, don't let it go out," she prayed to herself. That light, for some strange reason, seemed to be the only thing that would keep her safe from it. If it died out, she knew she'd follow the same fate._

_Even though she was escaping, she didn't seem to be advancing anywhere. And as she ran, she stumbled upon something and ended up on the ground huddled and frightened, embracing that faint little glow._

_It is common for the first fear to be the fear of darkness. In fact, sooner or later children will accuse themselves of this fear: in the dark there may be the monster in the wardrobe, the man in the bag or the goblins under the bed, and so on. Ultimately, fear of darkness is often the prelude to an anthropomorphic interpretation that situates some monster that may eventually "devour" the child._

_She was very afraid of that blackness. To be devoured by darkness, to be devoured by its most primary demonic essence. Although she always carried the demeanor of a dark girl, she couldn't bear to be alone in the dark. Raven was afraid of that, generating a feeling of embarrassment about the very possibility of losing control. To be afraid of the dark is, in essence, to be afraid of the unknown. Not being able to see what is outside gives us apprehension because our imagination creates the worst possible scenario. The outer darkness really evoked her own inner darkness. This is the most appropriate metaphor to explain her feared and therefore unresearched areas of her own psyche._

_It was a very unfortunate coincidence, to be a spawn of darkness, always transporting itself in its shadows and now fearing it. Before, she tried very hard not to show fear toward the element she was born of. What kept her standing, kept her sanity intact, was the possibility of a new day, a new light. Now that her father was gone, even momentarily, light was always possible. There was no additional curse to drag her into the world of the abyss again. But now, in the darkness and cold, looking back, it was hard to remember the good. It was a dread she couldn't tolerate. Alone. All her life she'd felt alone. Now she was alone and something was stalking her, and no one was there to help her._

_Darkness, solitude and silence. They're a real sinister triad. A breeding ground to drive anyone crazy._

_She could feel a freezing cold on her back. She could feel the prominent presence of that. That thing ran into her there, behind her back. She felt a glacial exhalation in her neck and a rotten breath that made her want to vomit. The fingers of that thing slipped through the strands of her hair, stroking parsimony as if it had all the time in the world to torment her. Her whole body was frigid. Then a voice was heard, a grim and sinister voice that made her tremble from top to bottom._

_“What you have concealed, you shall become,” sentence that._

_And she couldn't scream, her throat was hardened, as if a handful of sand was obstructing her entire larynx. She couldn't defend herself, she didn't have her powers, she couldn't move, she was completely paralyzed._

_“This is just a nightmare, I'll wake up soon... just a nightmare, you're not real," she remembered, to try to keep as much tranquillity as possible._

_“What you have concealed, you shall become,” that repeated again, but this time the thick, baritone intonation was replaced by a childish, high-pitched nuance, the voice of a little girl, which in her opinion seemed more grim than the last. That's in addition to an evil laughter that seemed to mock her._

_She barely managed to suppress a spasm when she noticed a large creature sliding across the floor, straight towards her. A huge snake appeared and climbed slowly up her lap; it continued to climb, the creature seemed endless, and was placed on her shoulders. The pupils of this snake resembled two vertical slits, staring, not blinking. Her loud whistle made her shudder more if possible. That thing was only meant to oppress or strangle. Or bite her to poison, as the snake had opened its jaws showing two pointed fangs._

_“You are alone, no one will help you, you will be consumed by the darkness of your soul. That's your destiny," hissed the snake in her ear._

_Alone._

_She felt her tears running down her cheeks, but as she wiped them quickly with the back of her hand, she realized that it was not the saline liquid she expected to see, but that it was blood. She was shedding tears of blood._

_Blood._

_“Wake up... wake up, please," prayed Raven inwardly for the last time, being astonished when the little light shining in her hands now increased considerably in size and illuminated the whole place. The last thing she heard before she woke up was the horrifying screech of what was stalking her, as if the light was burning it and making it burn. In the time when she was blinded by the imposing flash, all darkness disappeared. And finally there was light._

Raven's eyes finally opened at once, realizing that she was still out in the open air, the moonlight still shining brightly at the top of the blue star-covered vault. She blinked quickly relieving herself that this was real and not the horrible nightmare of just now. She was so stunned when she woke up that she had not noticed ten pairs of eyes looking at her attentively..... Wait, ten pairs?... besides... Was that a big teddy bear over there? The most "logical" conclusion that came to her brain was that she came face to face with Melvin's "imaginary friend". _"Well, I guess Bobby was real after all."_ Melvin, Timmy and Teether were right there looking at her in anguish but she also glimpsed unknown blue eyes that looked at her with concern.

Raven rose from the ground, grunting from the effort, shaking off the dust and remnants of leaves that had stuck to her clothes and hair. _"Great," she thought to herself._ She gave the blanket to Timmy who was on top of her and had fallen when she stood up. Her body was completely bruised and sore. She groaned holding her head to soothe the migraine she had. She rubbed her neck and grimaced at the touch. When she had time, she'd have to use her powers to heal herself safely.

“What the hell happened to me? Did a truck run over me?”

“Well, literally, a truck knocked you down," said the unknown red-haired man gracefully.

The young sorceress glanced around completely evaluating what was in her point of view and ignoring the boy's earlier comment. She noticed some marks of the battle on the floor, such as the residual traces of her magic and the wheels of the truck on the ground.  It was there now, almost completely destroyed, but there was no trace of Mallah.

“I suppose he just escaped," said Raven.

“Yes, our friend Tobby here gave him a good beating, I don't think he'll be back in a while," commented the new boy pointing to the strange and giant living bear-doll.

“It's not Tobby, it's Bobby Mr. Flash,” Melvin corrected.

“Yes, yes... it's the same thing, Tobby, Bobby, what difference does it make," he said, downplaying the error, fluttering the girl's hair, cluttering her blond pigtails a little and making her grumble in annoyance.

“So Bobby's real," said Raven looking at the nominee.

“I told you," Melvin replied with a smile.

“I... thank you, all of you.”

“Thank Bobby who saved us.”

“Thank you Bobby... and forgive me for thinking I was just your imaginary friend,” the empath apologized to Melvin and the giant bear. She had made the girl cry and feel bad by constantly pointing out that her friend didn't exist, but it was only because she had thought that Melvin had powers similar to her own and that she only used an imaginary scapegoat for fear of accepting that she possessed those abilities.

“Just because I imagined it doesn't mean it's not real," replied the girl.

“Why couldn't we see Bobby earlier?”

“Bobby was afraid of you at first and that's why he was hiding, but now he likes you, right Bobby?” Melvin asked.

And something in Raven went down, _was everyone afraid of her?_

“Hey, let's see, I think I'm being left out. I helped too, did you forget?” a frustrated male voice snorted.

Raven finally fixed her eyes on the boy in front of her.

“I consider you to be the support Robin sent," said Raven in her typical monochord tone.

The first thing she did was take the trouble to analyze the boy's aura. It was a bright scarlet colour, almost as if it were a burning fire... too luminous and resplendent in contrast to hers who had been born and lived all her life in gloom and shadow. He was tall, and he had reddish, disheveled hair. She noticed a slightly tanned skin and freckled cheeks. If his blue eyes seemed strangely appealing to her, his stupid smile was... almost intoxicating. He wore a full-body neoprene suit, yellow at the top and red at the bottom, with red gloves and yellow boots. The drawing of a red ray crossed his chest diagonally. His face was covered by an amber mask, which had a kind of antennae located in the area of his ears. She also couldn't help paying attention to the well-developed muscles that let his uniform fit show. He was pretty well constituted. _Pretty good._ He seemed to exude masculinity through all his pores and Raven, for some strange reason, had no power to stop scrutinizing him. _"What the hell was going through her head? Surely her lusty emotion was getting away with it inside her mind._ She had seen other men before, including heroes and villains (well, Control Freak obviously didn't fit into her _men's_ repertoire), she even lived with three teenage boys, and yet she had never felt anything like it before. Well, to be honest with herself, it happened only once when she first saw Aqualad. Raven blushed because the boy noticed her scrutiny. Now he was watching her with a stupid flirtatious expression.

Wally had a silly smile on his face. He had noticed how the pretty girl looked at him, so she should like what she was seeing, increasing his male ego a bit. He noticed the beautiful blush covering her delicate cheeks, making her look more radiant than she seemed. She looked really beautiful.

Raven almost fell to the ground again when the boy suddenly appeared in front of her. Had he teleported himself there?

 _“Mademoiselle!”_ The boy imitated a perfect French accent by gently taking her hand, and something in the contact made Raven blush again and her heartbeat accelerated. A throat-clear from the boy made her attention focus on him. “I introduce myself, I'm Wallace Rudolph West, better known by everyone as the _great_ Kid Flash, although I suppose you probably already know me, I'm the fastest man alive, a pleasure to meet you.” With that said, Wally bowed down as he bringing the girl's pale hand to his lips and giving a short kiss. He looked up into her eyes and smiled against her hand.

He had never seen eyes like this, of a beautiful amethyst color, that showed great wisdom and intelligence, but also eyes that had seen war and suffering. She seemed to be some sort of enigma, a riddle that he would be happy to decipher.

“Although I'd rather have you call me Wally, honey," he winked with a radiant smile.

“Oh, disgusting!”

“Yuck!”

“Diugh!”

_"Oh sure, the kids were still there! He had forgotten the three brats."_

Raven's right eyebrow began to tremble in discomfort, _had he said “honey” to her?_ and mainly, but not least, _was he flirting with her?_

“I am Raven, a member of the Teen Titans," she replied his presentation, trying to control her troubled emotions... and hormones, putting her hand back in place. He had given her his real name, something rare today among the heroes who kept their identity secret and hid behind masks. To tell the truth, she didn't even know the real names of her teammates. Well, only that of Beast Boy and it wasn't precisely because he had mentioned it, but the Doom Patrol did. And this boy, who had just shown up, had trusted her and had said his name without any problem.

“Nice to meet you _, Wally._ Thanks to you, too, for saving me. I'm really indebted to you.”

Wally felt a pleasant tingling all over his body, he loved how his name sounded, almost divine, coming out of her lips, as if it was a beautiful melody.

“Oh! There's nothing to be thankful for... Mm, wait a minute, okay?” Wally said and then quickly vanished from the place.

Raven was surprised when the sprinter disappeared from her sight, to appear again in front of her in just a few seconds, with a beautiful blue flower protecting it against his chest to prevent it from breaking down after his accelerated trot. She was surprised that he now looked a little shy, with his cheeks in a scarlet tone that matched his suit and hair, as he scratched his neck with his free hand in a clear act of nervousness. Well, where did all that bravery just go?

Raven was not naive, she was an empath and that offered her abundant advantages when relating or being able to foresee the intentions of her enemies. Her vision of the world was very intuitive and she understood the emotions of others with ease. She was able to feel what others feel more vividly than ordinary people do. There were individuals who were very complicated to read and who seemed to have an unbreakable mental wall, she herself was one of those kind of people. Also among these were Robin and some villains like Slade. But on the other side there were others that were an open book for her, like Beast Boy, Starfire and the now known Wally West. And particularly the emotions of the latter were too strong and volatile, as if they floated freely by their being - quite the opposite to her - extremely obvious to perceive with her powers. She could tell that the boy was a little scared, but she was surprised that not from her, but that she refused his little gift.

Wally stretched out his hand nervously, fearing her rejection, giving her a beautiful blue rose that he had found in a meadow a little far from the place, which he had noticed as he ran to get to this place for his mission. It was simple but equally beautiful. In addition, a blue rose was not something that was found every day, it was quite unusual that pigmentation in this species. Blue roses are very difficult to obtain in their natural form, which makes them unique, special and, in a way, extraordinary.

“For you," Wally muttered as he offered the rose with clear nervousness, praying that she would accept it. But he was surprised when she received it in her hands, making their fingers touch against each other, producing in him a strange electric current all over his body.

“I... thank you? I guess I don't really know what to say, I've never had this kind of attention before," said Raven as she gently stroked the smooth cerulean petals of the rose. _"At least a gift with real intentions and not to deceive me," she said to herself, thinking again of that damned dragon_.

“It's pretty, I've never seen one of this color before.”

Kid Flash blew out the air he didn't know he'd been holding.

“I assumed blue was your favorite color, it suits you," he said as he scratched his hair in an act of nervousness.

He was surprised when she said she had never received a rose, had she never been given a gift before? He smiled internally. Maybe he could invite her for pizza or something like that someday when this was over or maybe...

“You're thinking a lot there Wally, all your musings make my head ache. Focus,” Raven reproached. She could feel the accumulation of emotions coming from the redhead bombarding all her empathic barriers. That's what she meant when she spoke of the sprinter's fluctuating emotions.

Wally looked at the sorceress, who stared at him as if she were digging deep into his soul. He dodged her gaze a little, he felt as if she was rummaging inside him.

“How is what...?”

“I'm empathic," she interrupted by tapping on her head, "I can... feel things that others can't.”

“Were you... were you reading my mind?” he asked really curious about the girl's abilities.

“It doesn't work strictly that way, I can read the mind if I want but this is different, think of it as if I were some kind of receiving antenna or emotional sponge, and currently my powers are not fully stabilized to deal with so many emotions together, especially yours, so order your thoughts there.”

Kid Flash then looked at her with a playful smile.

“And… why don't you read my mind and find out what I'm thinking right now, _honey_?” he smiled and approached her. Raven arched an eyebrow in response, not being frightened by his presence. Now they were face to face and the empath tried to maintain the composure. Raven was more than aware that he was slowly intruding into her personal space, but his presence was too overwhelming and she felt her old shields automatically increase.

“No, thank you, I don't think I'm really interested," she said as she turned around. She didn't want to know what kind of dirty thoughts went through his mind right now. He was a hormonal teenager after all. “And don't you dare call me _honey_ again” she threatened to turn to see him with cold eyes.

Wally shuddered a little at the warning, but there was something funny about everything. She was a combative girl, he liked that.

“Sure, whatever you say _baby_ , but I repeat, you can read my mind whenever you want. Actually, you can do whatever you want with me whenever you want, I suppose your powers and mine would give us several possibilities to have fun together, imagine the whole possible scenario with my super-speed” he insisted now with a seductive voice as he shook his eyebrows suggestively, causing a chill in his interlocutor.

Raven's cheeks became as close to two tomatoes as possible, taking in what Wally was brazenly insinuating. A colossal emotional maelstrom drove her powers out of control, blowing up the wreckage of the transport that Mallah had used a moment ago into a thousand pieces, leaving it in flames. She could hear the screams of fright and surprise from the kids. She also managed to feel in the back of her mind her characteristic emotion with purple cloak, the most passionate part of her personality, laughing mischievously at the clear invitation.

Wally was surprised at the explosion caused by a singular dark energy, evidently provoked by the girl in question. _"Interesting."_ She was empathically and theoretically a sorceress or magician, something like Zatanna, he supposed. It's not like he had a lot of knowledge about magic and all that stuff to compare. With super-fast mental analysis, he hypothesized that her abilities were clearly manipulated by her psychic energy, and from what he observed with the explosion of the truck, he assumed that her powers were also manipulated by her emotional states.

“You're a swine, you know that?” Raven reproached by focusing and repressing all the affections she was feeling, before detonating anything else, or detonating him, although the latter sounded really tempting right now. She quickly found her center and calmed herself. The boy was more exasperating than Beast Boy and more intense than Starfire. Or the two of us combined if it was worse.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, seriously," he said, raising his hands in a position of surrender.

“Hey, we're still here, you know? Aren't you tired of flirting? We're sleepy!” Melvin complained.

“What? Excuse me? I'm not flirting with him!” the sorceress replied, looking at the girl with reproach.

“I think if you're doing it, you've been flirting with me since you woke up," said the sprinter playfully.

“We're sleepy! We're sleepy!” shouted the “angelic” kids with their unbearable screams.

Raven massaged her temples as she recited her mantra in silence. Several times. _"Relax, don't kill anyone, don't kill anyone... at least not yet."_ Inhale and exhale. A sigh came from her lips. Then she held Teether and Timmy in her arms, who looked really tired, taking care not to damage the rose that Wally had given her.

“There's a cottage in the woods, we can rest there, are you coming?” questioned Raven looking at the sprinter. She didn't know if he wanted to stay or was about to leave, but she didn't want to be rude either.

“I'll stay with you!.... eh... I mean... with all of you," he quickly corrected, "and I think it could be useful to you against the Brotherhood of Evil. I guess sooner or later Robin would put me on this mission. Although I think you'll have to tell me more about who they are.”

Wally didn't really want to leave yet. Even though he liked to work alone, she would most likely need help if she were attacked again. He would not give the matter much thought, he was simpler, he would let himself be carried away by his instincts, and they told him to stay with the young woman.

“As you wish, I suppose your help will be well received. Follow me then, and I'll tell you everything when we get there," said Raven, returning to her monotonous tone, walking now to the little hut. “Come on Melvin, walk behind me and don't part.”

“Tell your friend Terry to move too,” said Wally looking at the little girl.

“His name is Bobby!”

Wally was behind Raven observing almost hypnotized, or idiotized, the swaying movements of her hips, as her cape fluttered to one side due to the wind blowing in the place, leaving her back and other parts uncovered. He was surprised when Raven slammed on the brakes, as if she had remembered something important. He hoped she hadn't noticed with her empathic powers that he had been looking at her butt the whole time.

“I had forgotten," she grunted in frustration.

“Is something wrong?”

“The only way to get to the place was by cable car, but it was destroyed in my fight against Mallah. Now the only way to get to the hut is if I take all of you myself.”

“Does it involve flying?” Wally asked really restless.

Raven turned and looked at him, surprised at his notorious nervousness.

“Are you afraid of flying?” she asked, arcing her eyebrow and with a little mockery in her voice.

"I... uh..." he gasped restlessly as he kicked a stone off the ground. "Only the feeling of nothing solid beneath my feet gives me a little insecurity. You know... I'd be helpless."

Well, she could understand that, it was reasonable considering the powers of Kid Flash. Just as she controlled her emotions and that fact gave her security, he had to have control by having his feet on the ground in order not to feel vulnerable. That's how his powers worked. It was quite logical for her if she looked at it that way.

“Teether also hates flying, he gets dizzy easily," remembered Melvin.

Oh yes, of course Raven remembered. His gagging and vomiting weren't easy to forget. She still had to wash her boot.

“Don't worry, we won't fly.”

“Can you... teleport us then?” the redhead asked in surprise.

“Yes, I suppose I have some energy for a little journey right now, it's not that far away anyway. Get close to me.”

Wally, Melvin and Bobby approached the empathic, as she closed her eyes, concentrated her energies and felt it run through her body. She hoped her powers wouldn't abandon her now. A large black disc appeared beneath their feet and the six disappeared into her black aura in the form of a bird, reappearing seconds later in front of the hut.

“It was a fast trip, I don't think I would have gotten there that fast. That was so...”

“Terrifying?” She finished her sentence with an acid voice.

“No way. That was extraordinary!” Wally clearly cheered with excitement.

Raven looked up and their eyes met, she astonished at his sincerity.

“I... some think my powers are creepy, even on my own team," Raven whispered, recalling the first time she had used her ability to transport her teammates to the ship that was trying to attack Earth to hijack Starfire, and Beast Boy emphasizing how frightening it was.

"Well, I think your powers are great, but I still don't understand how they work at all," Wally said, putting a hand on her shoulder as a sign of support, as he had felt the girl's emotional change.

“If you say so," she said simply, as she went in and took the kids to bed and away from his touch.

Kid Flash gave her a smile and followed her inside as he turned on the lights. He watched with some tenderness as she put the kids to bed and tuck them trying to make them feel comfortable. The image was in a sense... enigmatic for someone like her who seemed to be a little cold and distant.

“And where will Cody sleep? I think it's too big to go through the door," he asked when he saw the big bear on the porch of the hut.

“That his name is Bobby, vomit brain! And he'll sleep outside!” Melvin shouted.

“Wow, what a temper you have, little lady.”

“Shut up, all of you, now!” Raven commanded, causing everyone to remain silent and causing the lights of the place to flash. If the kids got rowdy again, her head would end up exploding. Or the hut would explode, the order of factors did not alter the product.

“But he began...” Melvin defended herself by crossing her arms in anger.

“Go to sleep... _right_ _now_ ," the empathic hissed threateningly with a terrifying thread of voice with the intention that they would stop arguing and get ready to rest. The kids swallowed dry while forcibly closing their eyes and getting ready to sleep before making Raven more angry.

And it didn't take them long. A sigh of relief came from the sorceress' mouth when she heard them snore, they must have really been exhausted... or frightened by their threat.

The sprinter watched with great surprise as she put the blue rose in a glass of water. He thought she was going to throw it away or leave it behind. He was happy that she accepted his gift, meaning that it had been meaningful and she had liked it. He was watching her until a sharp jab in his hand and head reminded him that he was hurt.

“Shit, it really hurts," he grunted quietly so as not to wake the kids.

Raven turned to see Wally sitting on the couch massaging one of his hands as he mumbled curses, with a gesture of obvious pain in his face. She hadn't noticed that he had been wounded in the battle.

“Are you hurt?”

“Don't worry precious, nothing that a little ice and rest won't solve, besides I can recover in a short time,” he joked trying to hide his annoying pains.

_"Men and their pride," she thought._

“I can cure you, it's the least I can do to save my life, do you want me to do it?”

She was used to curing her teammates. She'd done it often. But Wally might be offended if she cured him without his permission.

“Sure, why not? So you have healing powers too?”

“There are many things people don't know about me," said the woman, her voice sounded as cool as ever.

“You've got some tricks up your sleeve, honey.”

Raven only rolled her eyes at his honeyed appellatives. Threatening him again would surely be of no use to him. It was noticeable that the boy was quite stubborn and that he was not afraid of her warnings; on the contrary, it seemed that he was having a certain amount of fun.  It really seemed like he was enjoying this, like a game.

“Where are you hurt?” she interrogated to begin the process.

“I think my right hand has a sprain. I also have a terrible headache, the fall was quite hard.”

“Well, let's start with your hand first. Take off your glove, healing is most effective through direct skin-to-skin contact with bare skin, with nothing in between.”

...

 _Oh_.

.

.

Oh, no.

…

 _"Did that come out of her mouth? Did she really say that stupid comment?"_ The answer came only when she saw the stupid flirty smile slowly emerge on his face again. " _Okay Raven, here we go_..."

“Skin against skin, what a tempting and suggestive proposal at the same time, don't you need me to take something else off? I think I also have a slight discomfort in...”

“Shut up, just let me heal you and explain about the Brotherhood of Evil, will you?" said Raven, losing her patience.

“All right, Rae. Mmm, Rae... I like that nickname, it's nice. Hey, I can call you that, can't I? I guess you wouldn't mind, I think it looks good on you. Or maybe you'd rather...”

“Do whatever you want," she muttered, "just... please keep your fucking mouth shut for a minute and let me start the story. And just relax, okay?” she gave in with a sigh, it didn't matter anyway. She never thought she was alive to see anyone talk more than Starfire.

She took his wounded hand between hers with care, and instantly a delicate blue aura emerged from the place beginning the healing process. Wally was surprised when the acute pain gradually began to subside. It was something really amazing.

“It feels really good.”

“That's because I'm taking the pain away from you and making it mine," she replied slowly, and without emotion. She noticed how he looked at her analytically trying to look for obvious signs of suffering on her face, but he didn't see any. She knew he'd ask her, so before he opened his mouth, she tried to explain. “I'll feel it later when I'm done here, so I said you relax. And don't worry, my body only takes care of healing her wounds.”

“You don't have to do this if it makes you suffer.”

“I know, now stop talking. Okay. The Brotherhood of Evil are criminals of the worst kind and great enemies, bent on world domination,” she began her explanation.

He could feel a pleasant warmth that did not decipher whether it came from the magic of the girl or from contact. Her hands were soft as silk, and he felt very comfortable with her touch. He saw with a smile how her pale little hand seemed to fit perfectly next to his. He tried not to get too distracted and pay attention to what she was exposing.

“Its main members are General Immortus, the eternal soldier, knows the strategy of every battle in history because he has been in them all. Then there is Madame Rouge, false, cunning, twisted and sadistic in every sense of the word. She can change shape, she is elastic and first-rate, and in my opinion, the most dangerous of them.”

Raven tried to stay stoic and her voice didn't reveal her inner turmoil. His male hands were large and his fingers were warm and a bit calloused, and something in contact made Raven nervous and her heartbeat racing again. What was wrong with her? Did she have heart problems? No, she knew it was because the contact felt somehow intimate. Or at least she felt it, but she try to bury this thought in any corner of her mind. Once she finished, she directed her hands to the head of the sprinter, secretly enjoying the softness of his hair.

“Yeah, they do look dangerous, and the gorilla what attacked you before?" he asked, to disperse a little his anxiety for the proximity in which they were now. Now Raven's hands were on his temples, feeling the same sensation as before as she healed his hand. Her appealing aroma captured his sense of smell again as it had when he rescued her. Besides, she was close. _Too close_.

“He is Monsieur Mallah, the second in command and his strength is only matched by his intelligence. Mallah is trained in various intellectual areas such as electronics, physics and tactics. Their leader is The Brain, the intellect in person and the evil incarnate. With great skills and intelligence in science and strategy. He has now decided that we, the Titans, are a bigger problem and is trying to eliminate any potential threat with superpowers from the Earth. That's why Mallah came here, his goal was these three kids, and to finish with me, which he almost achieved if it wasn't for your intervention.”

The description of the Brotherhood ended at the same time as the healing process, but Raven's hands were still on the sprinter's head. Now their eyes were fixed on one another. There was a slight pink color to the boy's bronzed cheeks, and the empath finally realized how... attractive Kid Flash really was. Yes, at first glance he might seem annoying, frustrating, arrogant, perverted and a little rude, but that didn't mean he wasn't really appealing and charming, anyone would notice that. It seemed strange to her that she didn't really feel so uncomfortable having him around. She didn't like people getting too close to her or her personal space, or when anybody held her for a long time, including her friends. She was not adept at physical contact or closeness, she never was. An internal alarm was triggered when she saw that the boy's eyes were on her lips. Alert. She knew she had to stop this and get as far away from Wally as possible before things got out of control and allowed something she wasn't going to consent to in any way. It was one thing for her to like the boy visually, after all she was a woman who could look at a man, and another very different thing was to do something stupid that she surely regretted. She took her hands away from the sprinter's head, almost as if the contact burned, and dodged his gaze as she put on her hood to hide her face, and hide from the boy as much as she could. She needed to increase her defensive mechanisms. Her walls had cracked slightly in the presence of the sprinter and she needed to reinforce them. She wasn't supposed to let this happen. She could not lower her guard in front of him.

“I'll go to sleep now, I recommend you do the same," she muttered in a too cold tone as she began to move away.

“I guess I'll do that," the redhead whispered a little surprised and disconcerted by the apathy with which she behaved now. Why was she acting like this all of a sudden? Had she done something wrong?

She regained her composure and went to the other sofa in front.

 _"What's wrong with me?"_ Raven suddenly asked herself, because in the face of such daring on Wally's part, like his flirtations, she should have hated him or repudiated him. She reclined not very elegantly on the sofa and hugged a cushion that was there as she looked at the roof of the house. _"What's wrong with me?" S_ he questioned herself again, sighing without understanding the agitations that were seizing her. Never before had her emotions felt so turbulent. Did it have anything to do with the weakening of her powers a while ago? Had that caused her to lower her defenses? This wasn't normal, something didn't fit and she knew it. She needed to meditate and get in touch with herself. First thing in the morning, she'd take some time for that.

Her heart squeezed painfully as Malchior's memory resurfaced, and Raven tried to push it down, close it. Like she always did. Repressing was her best recourse. Without success, an image rose in her mind, his voice in her ear, that sense of security and understanding that came with just being around him. The ghost of his voice seemed to whisper to her. Raven closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the painful memories.

 _I think the redheaded boy is wonderful and quite attractive, did you see his body?_ She froze. Her emotions rarely spoke in her head. They usually waited until she meditated to personalize herself. But there was lust in her ear, so clear and crisp.

 _He's an idiot, a presumptuous one!_ The anger screamed in retaliation. She could feel her struggling against her chains, wanting to kill anyone or everyone.

 _I think it's charming, quite funny and amusing_ , happiness seemed to hum while laughing.

What the hell was going on inside her head? All she could feel was the sudden cultivation of voices that seemed to tear the confines of her skull.

Wally also lay down, thinking of the recent situation. He knew what would have happened if the moment had lengthened a little longer, it could have ended up with a kiss, well at least on his part because most likely the girl would kill him for his boldness. He couldn't deny his physical attraction to the girl. She was beautiful, in an exotic way. Unusual but soft characteristics. And yet there was something else that captivated him, but what was it? Was it because of her personality that seemed so mysterious and stoic? It was strange, but he wanted to see what was beneath her hood, metaphorically speaking, and look for the person hidden behind that veil of darkness and shadows. Maybe he could ask her out on some kind of date? That sounded good. Supposedly she had said she owed with him. Would she kill him or something? Would she castrate him? He had realized that dealing with her was like walking on thin ice, but he would risk everything or nothing.

“Hey Rae, are you awake?” he asked quietly.

“Unfortunately yes, your piles of thoughts there prevent me from relaxing.”

Of course, he'd forgotten. She was empathic.

“Sorry, you see... I... wanted to know if you... another day... when....” He stuttered nervously, mostly because he didn't know how to tell her.

“Spit it out at once!” she said sternly, making him sigh before he spoke.

_"How direct," he thought gracefully._

“I saved your life, so you owe me a favor," he said simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Excuse me? A favor? But if I healed your wounds a moment ago," said Raven confused. She believed that with that the debt had been settled.

“Well yes, but... but that doesn't count," he replied,  contradicting her comment.

It took a few seconds before she released a snort of resignation.

“Well, let's see, what the _great_ Kid Flash wants?” she asked with irony.

He quickly approached where she was lying, making her startled.

“A date!” he said simply.

“Da... Date?” Raven stuttered. No one's ever asked her for an date before. She was surprised, meanwhile one of the lamps in the cabin began to blink threatening to burn. The boy only nodded, smiling from ear to ear, ignoring the obvious leakage of her power.

Raven wondered if the boy was really absent-minded as Beast Boy or if the blow to the head, which he received when he saved her, had made him a bit of a fool. Didn't he really realize the gravity of the situation? She frowned at the absurd request as her sarcasm surfaced.

“Of course Wally, why not?, there's nothing I want more right now than to go and have a delicious strawberry ice cream with you... meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Evil manages to make another quantum generator with the power to open a black hole, capable of deforming all space-time, condemning our whole existence to nothingness itself. It seems to me a majestic and intelligent idea on your part. And tell me, do you want to go now or do you think you can wait until tomorrow?”

Wally laughed out loud at her irony. He liked that sparkle in her eyes when she got angry, it made her look more tempting. And he loved the way she could defend herself in a war of words.

“I meant when this is all over, honey. You know, we kick evil ass, we win and then we have a simple date, what do you say? Moreover, if you promise to be adorable and submissive with me I'll buy you that strawberry ice cream you so much want as a gift,” he promised by winking at her and seeing how the sorceress frowned more if possible. He watched as she moved uncomfortably on the sofa and she glared at him.

“Don't say submissive again in allusion to my person, understood? And with regard to your proposal, I think I am... willing to reflect on it. Then I'll give you an answer, so don't insist anymore for now," she exhaled deeply and looked at him with firmness. “After all, if I reject your request now, you'll keep insisting until I accept. I've noticed that you seem to be quite persistent.”

“Yeah, well, that's me," he smiled and pointed his thumb at himself.

“But I want you to know that if I were to accept, at the first inappropriate or perverted behavior, I promise to create a portal to another dimension and leave you locked in there for the rest of your life, you hear me?”

“Can you do those things, too?”

She only nodded in response and lay back on the sofa. Wally finally turned off the lights in the hut and also returned to his couch, happy that she at least took the time to think if she wanted to go out with him. She didn't say no anyway. He really wanted to get to know something about her. He watched her with admiration when he saw how the healing aura now covered the young woman's figure as she levitated a few inches on the sofa, probably to heal her own wounds.

But there was still something troubling him, something that would probably not let him sleep peacefully and keep him awake all night.

“Hey Rae,” he muttered.

She gave a loud snort of anger.

“I'm trying to concentrate in case you haven't noticed, and now what the hell's wrong with you?”

“Don't you think Buddy's gonna be cold out there?” he asked barely audible.

“His name is BOBBY, you fucking brainless idiot!” Melvin shouted as she awoke from her clear state of sleep.

“Jesus, little lady.”

_"Wow, that little girl did have an explosive temperament... and clearly a light sleep," he thought._

 


End file.
